id est avocats

Managing Partners: Michel Jaccard, Juliette Ancelle, Marina Castelli-Joos

Number of partners: 4

Number of lawyers: 7

Languages: English, French, German, Turkish, Spanish

Firm Overview:

id est avocats is an award-winning law firm specialized in corporate finance and acquisitions, advanced technologies, privacy and cyber security, media, advertising/publishing, and intellectual property/unfair practices, employment law and commercial litigation. The firm is based in Lausanne, in the heart of the Lake Geneva region, and advises clients throughout Switzerland. The firm places industry knowledge at the heart of its activity, and leverages technology to serve its clients. The firm enjoys well-established relationships with global brands, prominent entrepreneurs, institutional investors, international groups, leading local SMEs, and many CEOs and owners of businesses that it has assisted in growth, acquisitions, combinations, restructurings, and exits. The firm regularly interacts with law firms from across the world and is well connected with multinational practices.

Main Areas of Practice:

Advanced Technologies:

The firm helps its clients navigate the world of advanced technologies (IS/IT, cloud, data & privacy, blockchain & IoT, AI/ML, med/biotech, telecoms). Our team regularly assists in the design of best practices, the negotiation of highly complex technology and outsourcing projects, cloud architectures, and in the management of cross-border privacy issues and online presence and reputation, in particular in the field of social media. The team also regularly acts in the field of data security and cybercrime, offering quick and sophisticated advice in the context of cyberattacks as well as long-term support in the design of data management and security strategies. The firm also regularly advises in the fields of publishing and advertising.

Corporate & Commercial Transactions, Governance:

The firm offers expert advice in corporate and commercial transactions, including M&A deals, private equity investments, venture capital financings and leveraged and management buyouts, and regularly assists in large transnational acquisitions and exits in the Lake Geneva region. Clients range from early stage, equity or debt financed companies and entrepreneurs to global leaders, major corporations and numerous SMEs. The team also regularly advises clients in corporate governance matters and disputes.

Intellectual Property, Unfair Practices:

The firm regularly handles a wide range of intellectual property matters, from filing trademark registration in the framework of a global brand strategy to complex licensing negotiations or high-stakes unfair competition disputes, as well as assistance in the media and entertainment industries. The firm’s clients’ core business often rely on key intellectual property assets and the firm’s team can offer its expertise, both in a contentious and non-contentious context, to assist them in these complex matters, whether it requires addressing traditional copyright, trademark or patent protection issues or advising on the selection of an open source based business model. The firm can also offer a solid contracting and transactional expertise in all areas of law relating to intellectual property matters, using its cross expertise in technology, privacy and business law in support of multifaceted technology transactions.

Labor and Employment Law:

The employment practice within the firm has steadily developed and grown over the years, focusing at first on advising start-ups and growth companies and extending to large multinational groups well as key individuals of Fortune500 companies. One of the core strengths of our employment practice is that it is at crossroads with our other departments; thus allowing our team to provide clients with meaningful strategic advice. The team namely offers expert support in employment related matters arising in a corporate context (incentive plans, C-level employment contracts, employee transfers, etc.).